After driving a 31 chevy for 52 years I just bought a parts book. I recently purchased a 1931 chevy rear end. I checked my rear end on my 1931 phaeton and the number was on the carrier torque tube section 357388....the one I bought was the same....but The Book says it should be 363076.
The number I have on both of my rearends do not jive with anything in the book. The seat and cap for holding the axle to the springs is number 365538 unique to 1931 and it jives with the book. Can anyone help with these discrepancies...Thanks Tom Black.....ps I got my original rear end working fine it needed a pinion depth adjustment adding shims
Not alarmed but confused....I also have a rear end with a casting date of 4/24/27 and its "Part number" also makes no sense with the 4 cylinder parts book and its cap and seat number does not jive with anything in either parts book ...maybe that one is a pontiac? not sure if Pontiac used a torque tube set up in those years. T Black
More often than not the cast number is a digit or two different than the part number. Also if a part has anything added to it such as a bushing etc then it becomes an assembly and will have a different number depending on how it is serviced.
In later years the parts book would list the current service part, not the original on.' Service substitutions are pretty common.
One piece of advice I got from Chat was to get a parts book that was maybe a year or 2 newer than the year of the vehicle. The errors and omissions were corrected but there were few if any service substitutions
The book I bought was a recopy of the Master Parts List For Six Cylinder Cars 1929 - 1932 Effective February 1, 1932. I also have the 4 cylinder Parts Price Book Effective February 1, 1928. Anybody want to crawl under their chevy from the passenger side to see what number they have on the carrier torque tube section?
My casting-forging-stamping reference shows 363691 as the part number for 357388. As you can see from the above picture there are several parts that make up the assembly. Sometimes the assembly is only sold as a unit but the assembly number is a listing of all the items needed to make the assembly.
Steve ...the parts book shows 363691 as for a 1932 confederate Series BB the series BB is a truck...they did not have free wheeling so the 1931 is probably the right length for a 32 1/2 truck. I have a 32 truck...I,ll try to get over to it to take numbers...that is where my other 31 is located so I will get the numbers from it also....You speak of a casting forging stamping reference...where might I obtain that?
Here is some more research to add to the confusion.
1. I bought a rear end casting number 357388 no part number or casting date. The spring to axle attachments have numbers unique to 1931, Also all the other parts that came with the purchase were 1931 and the car it came out of was a 1931coupe so 99.9% sure it is a 1931
2. I checked my 1931 chevy phaeton. The rear end has the same Casting number 357388 it had a casting date of H (August) 25/ 30. You scratch your head on this one as late August is probably early production for 1931, however the engine and transmission are E-18-1 and E-19-1. Either the engine and trans were swapped or the rear end was swapped. The car runs fine. Probably a 1931.
3. My 31 sedan I swapped the carrier assembly out of another 1931 many years ago. I reworked it with new bearings and pinion adjustment this fall. The same 357388 appears on this but no part number or date casting. 99.9% sure this is correct.
4. I checked my 1932 chevy BB 1/2 ton pick up. Same casting number no part number or date code. Has been running fine for years has the original 32 engine and transmission without free wheeling.
5. I checked my 1930 Roadster. Same casting number and a date code of 6/12/30. No part number. This one is correct
I found on the internet( I don't know how to post but I can email to interested parties) a site that gave me the drive shaft lengths 1930 car and 1/2 ton truck 43.13" 1931 car and 1/2 ton truck 45.13" 1932 1/2 ton truck 43.91" Based on the differences in drive shaft lengths it would not be a good swap between these years especially 30 to 31.
Since the casting number applies to all three years and in absence of part numbers and or date codes you would be hard pressed to know what you have(or want to buy) until you were able to measure the drive shaft length when disassembled......... T Black
remember that 1/2 ton trucks share standard components with the cars. engine, trans, frame, driveline, etc... main difference was the body. Chevrolet built the chassis, drive train, cowl. then went to dealer/body builder to outfit the body.
my 1930 is a 1/2 truck (Canopy Express) but the driveline and such are the same as the cars.
now the 1 1/2 ton usually have same engine cooling, but most of the rest may vary
AACA - VCCA - Stovebolt - ChevyTalk Love the Antique Chevrolet's from 1928-1932 The Beauty, Simplicity, History, and the Stories they Tell
The 1/2 ton 1932 confederate series BB truck used the transmission without the free wheel extension. As result it need a longer drive shaft than the car of that year. And it was different than the 1930 or 1931 models cars and 1/2 trucks.
I would post the chart on the driveshaft lengths but have not figured out how to do that.
The 1930 rear end assembly is a little shorter ~ 3/4" than the 1932 1/2 ton trucks. The ball housing will fit and seal relatively well in a '32 truck but the drive shaft is barely long enough to fit in the tail of the U-joint. I once had a '32 1/2 ton truck with that setup. It liked to eat U-joints. So we shortened a '31 drive shaft to the '32 length and I worked very well. Still had the '30 axles, bearings, etc. and not the larger '32 axles.
It is necessary to use a freewheeling unit on the transmission if using a passenger drive train in a 1/2 ton truck.
As was posted above, some of the casting numbers are the same for several of those years. All should have a stamped number on a machined flat pad on the rear torque to rear housing that can be an indication of the year and application.
Thanks that makes sense....the 32 1/2 ton truck as equipped with out free wheeling is an odd ball.....makes sense that the 30 drive shaft is 2" shorter than the the 31 it accounts for the 2" increase in wheel base from 107" to 109". Come spring I'll get a better look at my 32 truck to see that it is not running running a 30 rear end....but to date I have not noticed any unusual u joint noises so I'm probably ok
As an exercise that might benefit others buying a rear end , it might be good to measure the torque tube itself from the cast iron carrier to the end of the tube also indicate how far the drive shaft sticks out beyond that measurement. Doing this easy outside measurement eliminates the need to verify propeller shaft lenth by disassembly
My 1931 sitting on the floor measures 43-1/4 from the cast iron carrier to the end of the tube and the shaft extends another 1-3/4".
If anyone has other years it would be great to hear from you.
I own 1930, 1931 and 1932 1/2 ton trucks. Unfortunately none are at my home. They are at a storage building 120 miles away and away from Gulf Coast humidity and those large swirly storms. Measuring torque tubes is also difficult with assembled drive trains as the ball housing covers the end. Hopefully there are others that can provide the data before I have the opportunity to go measure my trucks.
There seems to be a definite area on each tube where it transitions down to where the bell slides on no further. Both of my 1931 phaeton and the rear end I have sitting on the floor this point 35 1/2'" from the cast iron carrier. My 30 roadster and 32 truck are also stored offsite so I can't measure today.
I guess I would expect this point to occur on the 1930 at 33-1/2" and on the 1932 truck at 34-1/4"
While it is nice to have a parts book from the year of your car or close, a book from 5 or 6 years later can be very useful. It will show you a wider range of years with parts that interchange with your vehicle. The cast number, which Chevrolet calls the Identification number, is rarely the same as the Part number. Parts catalogs from and after the late 30s often, but randomly, have a list of these numbers converted to group and part numbers, in the "Supplementary Data" section, in the back. This information is lifesaving for those of us who have piles of parts that are no longer boxed or tagged. The bad news is that some identification numbers just don't show up on these lists. I have a dozen, or so, catalogs from the '29-'54 6 cylinder era. Many of them have valuable and interesting info in the back. The reprint people often eliminate this info.
